REVIEWS - 'Pacific Rim' and 'Grown-Ups 2'

All right, I was hoping to type this up yesterday but I was not able to.  So might as well give myself a break from typing up a 300-500 word book report for my Middle East history class and a 7 page paper on dementia for my Sociology class. 



REDBOX
'Grown Ups 2' (PG-13) *3/4
So originally I was going to watch this as part of BSU UPB's 'Friday Night Filmworks' series.  But due to the three hour lockdown last friday at Ball State this got moved to Saturday night.  I wasn't able to go to it on Saturday night, so since I had a free Redbox rental I decided to use it on this.

Anyway, 'Grown Ups 2' takes place three years after the events of the first movie with Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock and David Spade hanging out and cracking jokes with each other as school is over for their kids and summer vacation starts.  Shenanigans ensue that involve deer, bullies, medicated bus drivers, a car wash, driver's ed, a frat, an ice cream shop, first loves, ballet, crazy people, and an 80's themed costume party.  For every 1 joke that made me chuckle there were approximately 1,834 jokes that made me just stare blankly at my TV screen.  A few of the jokes were groan inducing but I was never mad or frustrated at it.  Then again I didn't really like the first 'Grown Ups' all that much either so I'd say it's comparable to the first.  If you liked the first one, you'll like this one.  If you disliked the first one.....this won't exactly change your opinion of the 'Grown Ups' franchise.

Now, am I one of those people that hates Adam Sandler?  No.  I think he can be a good actor and be very funny.  Most of the time, I like Adam Sandler movies....although I've avoided 'Jack & Jill' like the plague.  Anyway, here's a quick rundown of the Adam Sandler movies that I have seen:

LIKED:  'Happy Gilmore', 'The Waterboy', 'Mr. Deeds', 'Funny People', 'The Longest Yard', 'Click', 'Bedtime Stories', 'I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry'
MEH:  'Anger Management', '50 First Dates', 'Hotel Transylvania'
DISLIKED:  'You Don't Mess With The Zohan', 'Grown Ups', 'Grown Ups 2', 'That's My Boy'
HATED:  'Eight Crazy Nights'



'Pacific Rim' (PG-13) **1/2
As a war between humankind and monstrous sea creatures known as Kaijus wages on, former pilot Raleigh (Charlie Hunnam) and trainee Mako (Rinko Kikuchi) are paired up to drive a seemingly obsolete special weapon known as a Jaeger  in a desperate effort to save the world from the apocalypse.  Also features Idris Elba as a commander in charge of the Jaegers, Ron Perlman as a Hong Kong black market businessman, and Charlie Day as a Kaiju-obsessed scientist.  Sure, that is the plot, but who cares about that when all we want to see is giant robots (the Jaegers) fight giant monsters (Kaijus)?  The special effects are great and the visuals of the movie in general are great.  Apart from that, the movie is just kinda 'eh'.  This was directed and co-written by Guillermo del Toro, whose other movies (including the 'Hellboy' movies, 'Blade 2' and 'Pan's Labyrinth') also have great visual styles to them.  If you haven't seen 'Pan's Labyrinth' I highly recommend it.  It's a fairy tale that is NOT for children (violent and bloody, that's all) and it's all in Spanish, but it is a great movie nonetheless.